


By Your Side

by dadsinc



Series: the kids aren't alright [5]
Category: VIXX
Genre: Alternate Universe, Dystopia, Gen, Post-Apocalypse, Slice of Life, Taekwoon is 16 and Sanghyuk is 5
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-24
Updated: 2017-10-24
Packaged: 2019-01-22 09:04:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 815
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12478088
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dadsinc/pseuds/dadsinc
Summary: One day, Sanghyuk promises he'll cook dinner for Taekwoon.





	By Your Side

**Author's Note:**

> Written for shiritori.  
> Another drabble from my _The Kids aren't Alright_ -series.

“One day,” Sanghyuk says, voice muffled as his mouth is filled with canned beans. There’s tomato sauce dribbling down his chin that Taekwoon automatically leans forward to wipe off with the sleeve of his sweater. Sanghyuk looks at him with round eyes before grinning at him, the remnants of chewed beans pressing out through the gap where his two front teeth are supposed to be. 

“One day,” Sanghyuk repeats once he has swallowed his mouthful of beans, looking up at Taekwoon from where he’s perched on Taekwoon’s thigh. “One day, I’ll cook you food, hyung! And it won’t be beans!” 

Taekwoon smiles softly at him, cards through his black hair with his hand that’s large enough to cover the crown of Sanghyuk’s tiny head. Taekwoon is still somewhat surprised that Sanghyuk lets him touch him like this, remembering how the five-year-old boy had been so terrified of him when they met. It has been a couple of weeks, tops, but Sanghyuk has slowly started to warm up to him, and now, he’s sitting on Taekwoon’s lap while eating his dinner.

Sanghyuk’s excuse had been that it had been too cold for him to sit on the metal floor of the small bomb shelter they call home. Which is true, Taekwoon thinks, it’s fall and for the past week it has been raining a lot, making the metallic bomb shelter colder than it had been in weeks. Taekwoon had dressed Sanghyuk in clothes that were way too big on him, seeing as his original outfit of shorts and t-shirt hadn’t been warm enough. With a pair of scissors he had cut the legs off a pair of army pants, fitting the length of them to Sanghyuk’s much shorter legs. Taekwoon had done the same with a sweater, that looked more like a dress or a tunic on Sanghyuk; it’s hood big enough to cover Sanghyuk’s small head. But he was warm, and that was what counted.

“What will you cook for dinner, then?” Taekwoon asks amusedly as he scoops up a spoon from his own can of beans, bringing it to his mouth. While he chews the beans bathed in tomato sauce, he looks down at Sanghyuk who looks like he’s thinking thoroughly through this while sucking on his spoon, a frown on his face. Letting him think, Taekwoon doesn’t say anything to interrupt him. It’s not until Taekwoon has finished his can of beans, placing the can with the spoon still inside onto a small, wooden table close by, grabbing a bottle of water that he takes two big gulps from. 

“Hamburgers,” Sanghyuk says firmly after a while, bringing the can of beans up to his lips to scoop the rest of the beans into his mouth, chewing satisfiedly. 

“Hamburgers,” Taekwoon parrots. “Not kimbap or samgyeopsal or gopchang?” 

“Nope,” Sanghyuk says, grinning up at Taekwoon, tomato sauce smeared around his mouth, on his nose. “I miss eating hamburger and fries and have so much ketchup on it that mom says it looks like hamburger in ketchup sauce.” 

With every word, Sanghyuk deflates, eyes sad as he puts the can of beans next to him, entwining his own hands. 

“Taekwoon-hyung,” Sanghyuk says quietly, looking up at Taekwoon. “Taekwoon-hyung, I miss my mom.” 

Wordlessly, Taekwoon pulls Sanghyuk closer to him, wraps one of his arms around Sanghyuk’s back, allowing Sanghyuk to rest his face against Taekwoon’s clothed chest as Taekwoon rubs his back gently. Under the palm of his hand, Taekwoon feels Sanghyuk’s small body tremble slightly, hears the soft sniffs as he cries quietly. Taekwoon doesn’t comment on it. 

“I miss my mom too,” Taekwoon tells him honestly. “My mom and my dad and my sisters.” 

With red, watery eyes, Sanghyuk looks up at him while wiping his nose with his sleeve. “You have sisters?”

“I have sisters, yeah,” Taekwoon says, smiling gently. “Three older sisters. The two oldest were married and everything. My youngest oldest sister was ten years older than me, so all of them got the disease.” 

“Were you sad when, when they died?” Sanghyuk asks quietly, looking down again.

“Very sad. I cried a lot.” 

Sanghyuk’s head turns toward him so quickly that Taekwoon thinks it’s a wonder he didn’t break his neck. His eyes are wide in surprise, mouth open in an ‘o’. “Really, hyung? You cried?”

“Mm,” Taekwoon hums, at which Sanghyuk’s eyes widen even more. “I cried so much I couldn’t breathe.” 

Sanghyuk looks at him for a long time, eyes wide with surprise and wonder, before he curls his small arms as far as they go around Taekwoon’s middle, squeezing him in a hug. Taekwoon hugs him back, rests his cheek on top of Sanghyuk’s head as he feels his heart swell in his chest.

“I’m glad I found you, Taekwoon-hyung,” Sanghyuk says into the fabric of Taekwoon’s sweater. Taekwoon feels it dampen against his skin.

“Me too.”


End file.
